


One of Those Days

by tocasia



Series: Our Shining Past [3]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: AU, Dark, Gen, Implied Torture, Sephiroth and Zack friendship, bad day, science is important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 18:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11236404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tocasia/pseuds/tocasia
Summary: Events conspire against Sephiroth when he tries to meet Zack for a nice day out.  Alone, Sephiroth struggles with his desire for revenge.(34. solitude, fury) for Seph&Zack Friendship 100 Themes





	One of Those Days

Today, Sephiroth was going to meet Zack at the museum, which had just moved to a more modern, larger building. New exhibits would be on display, constructed from material that had previously been stashed away, unsorted, in dusty crates in a basement somewhere. That meant that someone industrious had actually bothered to go through the collections and properly catalog the specimens and try to make sense of it all. The people who put in all that effort did not get paid enough for it. He'd donate something to their cause.

Understanding the nature of reality was the most noble of endeavors, the key to improving the human condition. To do so required a certain stability of society that could not exist during war. It was important to protect that.

He had been surprised when Zack had agreed to come along. Sephiroth cared passionately about the preservation of knowledge, but he didn't think Zack shared his interest. Zack was being a good friend. Maybe he liked one of the other kinds of museums. Art, perhaps. He'd find out.

In a better mood than usual, he stepped off the curb into the parking lot, only to discover that someone had stolen his car. Turk mischief again, most likely, so he took one of theirs.

He was contemplating the possibility of revenge when he had to wait at a traffic light. Many jogging pedestrians crossed together as a group. They looked completely worn out and had tags with numbers on their backs. People running a marathon. Even in this heat and smog. Crazy.

During a left turn, the car's engine failed in a mundane and not-at-all-interesting manner, meaning there was no explosion whatsoever. It was shaping up to be one of _those_ days. He'd brave the train, then. He walked to the station, politely jostling people out of the way. Still, it wasn't the worst that could happen.

There was a line for tickets. You'd think being a top Shinra employee he'd have some kind of fast pass, but this was not the case. Civilians swarmed around him, unavoidable. They wanted autographs, photos. So many hands reaching out to touch... disgusting. Escape would get him no closer to his goal. Public transportation was not his friend. He cursed his kindness for not taking someone else's car when his broke down. Maybe he should have walked the whole way to the museum from the beginning.

With what was definitely not desperation, he watched the electronic screen showing how many minutes until the next train would arrive. He tried not to look at the scuffed gray tiles, stuck with old gum and Gaea knows what else.

The train was late because some terrorists blew up a reactor. An ecoterrorist organization called TSUNAMI claimed responsibility for the attack. All the trains stopped service for the day and the tunnels went on lockdown so that the criminals could be caught. He would be the one to do that. Because it was his job. Yes, that was the reason. Like the Turk who'd stolen his car....

Sephiroth tried to call Zack to let him know he couldn't make it. Sephiroth's phone was dead. Of course. In frustration, he tried to charge it with a Bolt spell. All the phoenix downs on the Planet wouldn't bring it back now. He hadn't liked it, anyway.

The other people waiting at the station who hadn't already left pretended they had something else very important to think about. One of them was looking at her phone, which then became the uncontested property of Sephiroth, who called Zack, who told him he'd missed a bunch of texts. The museum had been closed today (something about the paint still drying) and Zack had been turned away at the gate with apologies.

He gave the woman her phone back, proving himself capable of mercy.

* * *

There was no need to return to headquarters first for the paperwork. Sephiroth received a refund for his ticket and went alone to hunt down those responsible for the reactor incident. After a brief search, which suited his patience just fine, he found them. There were four. The leader was a nondescript man in a brown checkered coat who told the others to split up and meet back at the hideout in Sector 6.

They had no idea he was there, following. The leader took what he surely thought was a meandering route to shake pursuers off his trail. Ha! Sephiroth was in his element. A situation like this was easier to tolerate. Everything was focused, calm. He relished the subdued joy of competence, the feeling of being alive, no distractions. For a moment, he wondered if his mark was heading to Wall Market. That would present some difficulties, too many people there. He did not want to be seen. No, that wasn't exactly true. It would _not do_ to be seen and certainly not to burn it all down because of one bad day. He'd be no better than them if he did that.

The temptation faded as the man passed by that turn and headed in a different direction.

Mr. Brown Coat looked around suspiciously and unlocked the door to a run-down, two-story house. Pale blue paint was still visible where it hadn't peeled and flaked off. The shutters had rotted away long ago; not even their shadows remained. Before the plate was built above, this would have been a nice place, probably with geraniums in window boxes. The leader waited in the doorway for the others and beckoned them inside. Sephiroth heard them walk down a flight of creaky wooden stairs. When all four were on the lower level, he entered after them, silently.

So this was TSUNAMI's hideout. Many radical terrorist groups protested the convenience of Mako energy and Shinra's naked greed. Hatred for Shinra he could relate to. However, their warped notion of protecting the Planet, well, that was nonsense. These idiots did not understand what they were doing. By declaring war on the order he'd fought to establish, they stood in the way of everything he hoped to achieve. It wasn't only about preserving the society that now had time and prosperity for museums. Their actions profaned the sacrifice so many of his SOLDIERS had made.

And there was no satisfying revenge to be had. He could kill them, and then the next ones and the next. But there was no way to make them see. He could devise many cruelties to inflict upon them, but what good would it do? His true enemy was ignorance, one he could not strike at directly, not right now. Certainly not right now! Or he'd never stop. Patience. Control.

He listened to them talk. He should leave at least one alive for questioning. The leader and one other. Which one? Her. The woman in blue who was proud of the explosion. They had their next target already lined up. He heard papers rustling. Plans written down. Important information. A tv was on, with the news, broadcasting the result of their attack. They would not hear him.

He should call in the Turks to investigate, let them handle the interrogation. But then he remembered that his phone had reached its Promised Land today. Following protocol with some difficulty, he searched the rest of the house for a landline, found one in the kitchen, and called. They wouldn't get here for a while, yet. There was time.

Would it really not be satisfying?

Did it matter if they still didn't understand at the end?

* * *

The two he'd chosen to spare at the outset were saved only by the arrival of the Turks.

When they saw the condition of the prisoners, Sephiroth only told them that they hadn't talked. It was technically true. Nothing coherent had passed their lips. What he did not say was that he hadn't asked.

He left and went to find Zack before he could find anyone else. Zack could remind him to have faith in humanity, that idiots were the exception, and most people did the best they could. What about the people who worked in museum basements to enlighten the world? Or who made art, and music, and technology? The people that Zack and other SOLDIERS fought to protect?

And Zack was sorry that they hadn't been able to have nice day together! Which was so far away from what Sephiroth was trying to tell himself he was sorry about. The contrast was absurd. Zack did not know. Someday he'd find out... and only then would Sephiroth be truly sorry.

What was he thinking? Did he feel the need to shelter Zack so much? They'd fought a _war_ together. Zack knew Sephiroth was cruel, as Sephiroth knew Zack was not. He hoped he would never direct enough of his cruelty at Zack to ruin their friendship.

About the missed appointment, Zack said, "Let's try again next Tuesday."

 


End file.
